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New Evidence of the Earliest Domestic Dogs in the Americas

Perri, Angela; Widga, Chris; Lawler, Dennis; Martin, Terrance; Loebel, Thomas; Farnsworth, Kenneth; Kohn, Luci; Buenger, Brent

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Authors

Angela Perri

Chris Widga

Dennis Lawler

Terrance Martin

Thomas Loebel

Kenneth Farnsworth

Luci Kohn

Brent Buenger



Abstract

The domestication of dogs likely occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, and the initial peopling of the Americas potentially happened around the same time. Dogs were long thought to have accompanied the first migrations into the Americas, but conclusive evidence for Paleoindian dogs is lacking. In this study, the direct dating of two dogs from the Koster site (Greene County, Illinois) and a newly described dog from the Stilwell II site (Pike County, Illinois) to between 10,190 and 9,630 cal BP represents the earliest confirmed evidence of domestic dogs in the Americas and individual dog burials anywhere in the world. Analysis of these animals shows Early Archaic dogs were medium sized, lived active lifestyles, and exhibited significant morphological variation. Stable isotope analyses suggest diets dominated by terrestrial C3 resources and substantial consumption of riverine fish.

Citation

Perri, A., Widga, C., Lawler, D., Martin, T., Loebel, T., Farnsworth, K., …Buenger, B. (2019). New Evidence of the Earliest Domestic Dogs in the Americas. American Antiquity, 84(1), 68-87. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2018.74

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Dec 26, 2018
Publication Date Jan 31, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 31, 2019
Publicly Available Date Feb 19, 2019
Journal American Antiquity
Print ISSN 0002-7316
Electronic ISSN 2325-5064
Publisher Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 84
Issue 1
Pages 68-87
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2018.74

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in American antiquity https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2018.74. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © 2018 by the Society for American Archaeology




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